No Man's Land
by Delkion
Summary: In the land's between civilization, at the end of what men call home is a place where only the beasts survive. Here, men become animals just to survive, and animals become monsters to thrive. But sometimes in this cruel world it's better to be the monster than to be the man.


Disclaimer: I do not own Zoids in any way, shape, or form. Any Zoid designs original to this or my other story, Uncharted Territory, are my own intellectual property unless otherwise stated.

**Chapter One**

_**The Edge**_

They called it the Edge of Nowhere. Why they called it that was blatantly obvious enough. A high ridge, overlooking the vastness that was the system of canyons and caves that contained a rainforest so dense you could get lost just turning around in place. The very air in that subterranean jungle contained enough energized particles that no mapping or positioning system was able to function at anything nearing peak capacity, no sensors able to detect anything beyond your own movements. And that was when they weren't kicked up by some activity. And there was always something happening in this, the Devil's own playground.

But it should be safe enough to skirt the edge, or at least that's what the lieutenant was claiming. Fucking green butter-bar, every bit of shiny on his uniform gleaming like he had parade at any minute. Expected the same of them for the first week he'd been in command. Eventually gave up after the letters he sent to command were never returned, still griped about it at every inspection that he insisted they attend. Company pool had him involved in a friendly fire incident within a week. Smart money was within half that, Abe reckoned. But then, Abe owned half the company money.

Even his Zoid seemed to be freshly cleaned, the blasted thing. A lean beast, the Descat would've been frightening looking if it wasn't gleaming bright silver. Honestly, the audacity of some of the officers was just mind-boggling. It was keeping pace, at least, and not being loud about it. The panther loped along with them, the feline surrounded by the flitting shadows of foxes. Every so often one would stop, the blur solidifying into the dull black and gold as the vulpine Zoid nosed the air, sniffing for contacts. Then it would vanish once more.

They were moving in loose formation, the Company flitting through the jungle without so much as disturbing the birds that filled the branches above them. Quick and silent as shadows they moved, the best of the best on a mission to hunt down one man. Why command was so intent on having him was beyond Gabriel, but he was just a grunt. He didn't get to know the why, just the what and how. And the what was a former convict that had been released on some Republic rally during the last war, offering the useful convicts a second lease at life in the military. By what the intel had said, he took the deal and fought through the war, escaping before they could put his shackles back on when they let slip that the deal was bogus.

Gabriel snorted and browsed over the dossier again. By all accounts, he was like them. A specialist in his own area, he'd put his own abilities to frightening use against the Theocracy of Dabute. Abilities he'd used to get himself locked up for several consecutive life sentences. He'd apparently been spotted skirting the Edge, a prospecting unit even swearing they saw him in the jungle of all places. But the area they were talking about was inside Dabute borders. So, of course, they'd decided that the smart thing to do was cut through the fucking jungle. They'd be able to keep an eye out for the asshole inside and sneak around the patrols at the border, all in one fell swoop. And probably get killed doing it.

"Keep it tight, Esquila," the sergeant's shrill voice came over the coms, "Don't want to give the CO anything to bitch about." Gabriel Esquila snorted but slowed it back, resisting the itch to slide forward and scout the area out ahead of the group. The CO didn't believe in splitting the group, even when it fucking made sense to. Normally they'd just ignore him and do it anyway, putting up with him having a bitchfit and moving on with their day. Normally they weren't in the middle of a rainforest that had literally swallowed armies and spat out not even the bones. Here they couldn't afford a bitchfit. Here they would have to play nice.

Esquila couldn't help but marvel at the scenery though, even as his Fox darted through the undergrowth. Well, what amounted to undergrowth. Some weird shit out here made the ferns grow to almost Zoid height, swallowing the Fox's as they moved through the jungle. Some of the trees were like that, too, with trunks the size of hangars and poking up nearly a mile high. No one was entirely sure why. He just hoped the rumors that some of the wildlife was similarly sized were just rumors, anything that big could probably take a Zoid on. They had enough to worry about on this crapshoot op without taking on giant lions, tigers, and bears.

"Oh my," the grizzled voice of Colm blared suddenly before Gabriel reached over and turned his coms down, "This is a might pretty place, innit?" The dark crimson of the company sharpshooter's Fox slid up next to his. The gatling mount strained under the weight of a single large rifle, the scope's red eye constantly whizzing and whirring as it refocused with each and every movement. Gabriel smirked to himself, wondering how the old man was doing without his favorite toy. The crimson Fox was almost never seen without the old Helcat it used as a spotter, the cat's guidance systems ripped out and replaced with a simple drone interface and its stealth systems boosted to levels that restricted its very movements to a crawl. Which was just fine for the old timer, he never moved real fast anyway. But now, they needed the speed and so the drone was left behind.

He didn't get a chance to ask him about it, though, as he disappeared into the low hanging growth around them. That drew his mind back to them being out here in the first place, and it brought a growl deep from his throat. His Fox paused mid-step, scanning the area before moving off again, its head cocked quizzically. Gabriel paid it no mind, still steaming about the fucking morons that had sent them all out here. He looked at his identifier again, a smirk coming to his face. Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 10th Skirmisher Regiment. The Shadows. The best in hit-and-run tactics that the Republic could muster. And all fucking twelve of them were down here, looking for one guy and lead by a fresh new Lieutenant instead of their own CO.

"Company, halt," that damned voice came over. Gabriel's Fox came to a stop reluctantly, not even the machines seemed to like him. The fact that his voice made it sound like puberty hadn't hit yet didn't help matters. The garish Zoid strolled up next to his, slowly surveying the clearing they'd just reached. Open spaces seemed to make him nervous, for some ungodly reason. Gabriel would much rather be in the wide open then in this damned jungle, it was a choke point every five meters in here. He'd stopped them at every clearing though, going through the same fucking checklist in his head. First he'd look, then inevitably he'd-

"Esquila, Toran, recon," he cut off Gabriel's train of thought. He rolled his eyes and kicked his Fox's optical camouflage on before sliding the Zoid out into the clearing. Toran's Fox flanked him, the large tanks supplying the flamethrower bulbous on its back, clear to Gabriel through the screens of his multisensors. Toran was a pyro, he'd spent the entire trip mumbling to himself what he'd need to light this forest afire. Half the team wanted to let him. The other half just didn't want to be there when he inevitably did. And for some fucked up reason, he was probably the best friend Gabriel had in the whole fucking Company.

"Whaddya think, Gabe?" Toran's accent was bad over the radio, "Think we'll find some fuckin' action out here?" Gabriel chuckled and kept his eyes on his sector as they moved into the clearing, disturbing a herd of deer and freezing for a moment before continuing in.

"Doubt it," he griped, "Just another goose hunt. I mean, I don't see anything do you?"

"Not a fuckin' thing on the sensors," Toran's thick accent griped through the coms, "Let's get back to th' fucki- Hold company." Gabriel's Fox froze as Toran's went rigid and started sniffing the air urgently. Even hidden in plain sight as they were, there were plenty of things that could see them, and most of them would have bigger guns then them. The pair started backing slowly for the cover of the trees as Toran murmured into the coms, "I spotted something, only for an instant though. Other side of the clearing, at least ten meters tall. Definite machine contact, fast too."

"Identify before you fire," Gabriel's eyes widened incredulously and his jaw dropped, but the Lieutenant continued, "Remember, we're not the only ones in this jungle. Our target has been spotted within a ten kilometer area of here, and we cannot afford to damage him overmuch."

The entire Company was silent, Gabriel could only imagine what they were thinking. He was hoping it was along the lines of his own thoughts, that accidents happened out here. No one would know any better, they just say he wandered off into the trees and they couldn't find him. No one would question it, they'd just put it up to him being a fucking idiot on a suicide mission. Gabriel's hand gently nudged the yokes, the Fox's gatling drifting slightly in his direction.

"Contact front!"

The call of contact was almost drowned out as the scream of incoming sounded followed by an earth shattering crash as Gabriel's world was flipped upside down. The Fox slammed to earth and quickly rolled to its feet, darting to the side as a second set of shells streamed by it and turned the trunk of a tree into kindling. The titan fell to earth with a resounding thud that he felt more than heard, ignoring it as he added his own suppressing fire to that of the squad. Their laser gatlings filled the air with bolts of coherent light even as the old man hunted for targets, the harsh crack of his rifle audible even under the steady scream of capacitors being pushed to their limits.

"Esquila, Matin, take the right flank!" the sergeant barked in the coms, his shrill voice now booming with authority, "Dermain and Shan, you take the left! Find this asshole and fill him with fucking holes!" There was a chorus of ayes as they sprinted off, their own guns silent as they fed the extra energy into their stealth systems. They faded from the physical, becoming spirits as they flitted through the thick jungle growth. Another ear-splitting crump of detonation sounded, a huge plume of dirt and wood splinters showing where the shells had impacted. Gabriel's teeth creaked as he ground them hard, pushing his Fox faster. Unless they found this thing, it was going to rip his team apart. Another crash and his eyes spied a disturbance, the very air being pushed away by the force of their contact firing those massive cannons. He ignored the panicked cry in his coms and swung the Fox around.

And his mouth went dry even as he saw Toran swing around behind it, calling into his radio, "Contact made! Contact made! It's a fucking Genosaurer! I repeat, it's a fuckin-"

And that's when those massive guns swiveled around and fired, the sonic booms knocking the branches around the Genosaurer free as a pair of shells slammed into Toran's Fox. For a moment, there was silence. Then Gabriel's world turned red as the fuel in those tanks ignited and half a kilometer of jungle erupted into flames.

* * *

A/N: Well, here it is. My new story. Things will be different, things you're gonna notice right off the bat. This is not Uncharted Territory. But I hope you enjoy it all the same.


End file.
